Page and Plant to tour

Almost 15 years after Led Zeppelin called it quits, guitarist Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have announced dates for their first tour as a duo.

The tour is scheduled to begin on Feb. 26 in Pensacola, Fla., and includes a March 22 performance at the USAir Arena in Landover. There was no word at press time on when tickets will go on sale.

Despite the duo's association with Led Zeppelin, this will not be a reunion tour. As Page said in a press statement, "We were both agreed that if we were going to do something then it had to be new. . . . If we were to look at old material, then we'd have to treat it as an old picture ready for a new frame."

As such, the material for this tour will reflect the sound of the recent "No Quarter" album. Joining Page and Plant onstage will be bassist Charlie Jones and drummer Michael Lee, along with guitarist Porl Thompson, hurdy-gurdy player Nigel Eaton and keyboardist Ed Shearmur. An Egyptian string and percussion ensemble, led by Hossam Ramzy, will perform on some numbers, as will local symphony orchestra musicians in each city.